BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- He is bullish and brazen on the court, his 6-7 frame hardwired with attitude. It's what drives Indiana's Will Sheehey.

Watch him drill a 3-pointer, then jab three fingers at his forehead to celebrate.

Watch him throw down a thunderous dunk on an Iowa player, then nod his head as he runs back on defense.

Watch him bark at Purdue's student section after a basket and a foul, flexing his biceps and waving his arm. Watch him smile as they boo.

It's all part of that unmistakable edge.

"There needs to be one on every single team, and he's ours," said former IU teammate Kory Barnett, now a graduate assistant for the team. "It's not even close."

Adam Ross, Sheehey's high school coach, has long known the origins of such ambition.

"He's got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, doesn't he?" Ross said. "It's almost out of necessity. He thinks, 'I have to take this approach to be the player I need to be.'

"To be, for lack of a better term, the hard-ass."

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Hoosier forward Will Sheehey doesn't like getting called for a foul on a scramble in the second half. The Indiana Hoosiers hosted the Evansville Purple Aces at Assembly Hall on Nov. 26, 2013.(Photo: Mike Fender / The Star)

'Who is this kid?'

Now listen to the bristling words that come from the Indiana junior guard.

"No one liked me when I first came on campus," he said on a radio show this fall. "They were all like, 'Who is this kid?' "

And to a group of reporters after a win over Iowa this season: "There's games when I don't shoot well and you guys blast me and say I suck. It's cool. It's cool. We all know how it works."

There was also the odd scene at Hoosier Hysteria last fall. During player introductions -- where dancing, singing and goofing around are welcomed and, to a degree, expected -- Sheehey simply jogged onto the court, a deadpan expression on his face.

No jumping. No shouting. No dancing. Nothing.

What gives?

"He embraces his role," Ross explains. "He's not going to take any crap. He plays the way he does because so many people told him he'd never make it, never thought he'd play Division I, never mind the Big Ten."

Sometimes Sheehey, who declined to be interviewed for this story, pushes too far. He was tossed from a win over Penn State last year after some jawing earned him his second technical of the game. He's often the target of opposing fans. His answers haven't always endeared him to the media.

All this matters little to the IU faithful. They have grown to appreciate their fearless sixth man, his game a union of springy athleticism, a versatile shooting touch and the sort of grit that produces plays fans love and coaches crave.

Last summer, Sheehey set a new standard for the basketball team's cardiovascular (VO2) test -- essentially sprinting for more than 14 minutes and shattering a record that had stood since the 1980s.

After scoring 19 points in a rout of North Carolina in November -- possibly his best game for IU -- he was in Cook Hall at 7 a.m. the next day, shooting.

Mike Sheehey has seen that edge, that drive in his son for a long time.

"He's always loved working to get better," he said. "That VO2 test is a perfect example. Will was so determined to get that record."

He has improved every year in Bloomington. This season, he scored in double digits in 14 of the 22 games.

"He's not the player he is without that energy," IU coach Tom Crean said. "There's no accident we're playing better when he's playing better."

Sheehey was the under recruited, underappreciated player from a basketball family who couldn't get on the radar of major college programs. His dad played at Syracuse and St. Bonaventure. His uncle, Tom, helped Virginia to the 1984 Final Four before a lengthy career overseas.

But it wasn't easy for Will. Ross said he was the last kid to make the middle school team.

"Last guy on the bench," said Ross, who remains close to his former player. "Never played. Made the JV team by the skin of his teeth. Tried to get on a travel team, but they never wanted him."

Finally, the growth spurt arrived his sophomore year. His body began to develop. So did his skills. By his junior season, suddenly, he was putting up 24 points and 10 rebounds a night.

It didn't matter. He was playing for South Fork High School in Stuart, Fla., a small public school in the southern part of the state. The interest simply wasn't there.

"He wasn't playing against the best competition," his dad said. "He was also a little bit raw."

So Sheehey decided to transfer for his final high school season. He went to Sagemont, a private school in Weston, Fla., and played for Ross. Most significantly, he became teammates with one of the most coveted prep players in the nation: Fab Melo.

It was all part of the plan. That season, the Sagemont gym became a parade of NCAA coaching royalty, one after another, all chasing the prize that was Melo. Kentucky coach John Calipari came. Connecticut's Jim Calhoun came. Louisville's Rick Pitino came. Surely, one of them would notice Sheehey.

At first, none did.

While Melo had his pick among Division I powerhouses -- he eventually chose Syracuse -- Sheehey did not.

"None of them showed any interest," Ross said.

Then Darrin Horn, coach at South Carolina at the time, sat in Sagemont's bleachers one afternoon keeping tabs on another prospect. Ross urged him to give Sheehey a look.

"You're missing the boat," Ross told him.

Horn watched. He saw the athleticism, the tenacity, the confidence. Only problem? Horn was out of scholarships. He called a friend who was not.

Two days later, Crean was in Sagemont's gym.

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IU coach Tom Crean and Will Sheehey share a moment during the Hoosiers' blowout win over Purdue, Feb. 16, 2013.(Photo: Robert Scheer / The Star)

Unrelenting edge

Crean watched Sheehey play once, then offered him a scholarship on the spot.

Before then, recruiting interest in Sheehey was tepid. Northwestern and Stanford hinted at a scholarship offer before backing out. Michigan swooped in late, but after a visit to IU's campus, Sheehey, ranked 131st in his class by rivals.com, had made up his mind.

He wanted to be a Hoosier.

"The program and Will really mirror each other," Ross said. "(At that time) no one really saw the future, the vision. Coach Crean really sold Will. He said, 'We're not very good now, but by your sophomore year, we will be. You're going to be a big part of that.' "

But before Sheehey played a college game, Indiana message boards hummed with skepticism about him.

Why are we taking a guy, not from Indiana, not even ranked in the top 100?

The words irked Sheehey. They also motivated him.

"Will saw that, and he was disappointed," his dad remembered. "He figured, 'Let me show you how I can play.' "

He has. Indiana fans have watched the energy he cultivates, the thunderous dunks, the clutch 3-pointers. They've come to love Sheehey's edge.

"If a guy isn't doing what he's supposed to be doing, Will's in his face, telling him exactly how it is," Barnett said. "He's honest. He doesn't say things for no reason. He has no filter.

"We have a lot of really, really nice kids on our team, but to have that edge, that variety, it's been amazing for us."